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Date: 04 Nov 2007 21:41:49
From: Zoot Katz
Subject: Karma Cycle
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Today, at Our Community Bikes!, I was scrounging for a trashed tire
to trial fit for frame clearances and to buy some cable housing
ferrules. Jay was busy with a couple at the counter looking to buy a
bike. David missed Halloween and was just back from cycle touring
Germany. We chatted. He gave me some ferrules. I wanted to buy a
dozen or two so he gave me more and charged me a quarter. I gave him
two bucks and put the change in their coffee fund.
At the counter I came to understand the couple was looking to replace
the woman's bike which had been stolen and they didn't feel like
spending a lot. (OCB! sells only donated bikes)
Jay told them to look over the bikes on the rack, some reconditioned,
some needing work, and make their selection.
I revealed my Halloween persona to Jay, chatted and was interrupted
by the woman, almost breathless, exclaiming that she'd found her
bike. There were tears in her eyes.
Not the bike that had just been stolen. No. A much nicer bike that
had been stolen when almost new - eight years ago!
She recognised it by its colour and the handlebar she'd put on before
it was stolen. She positively identified by a worn but still visible
top-tube decal of the Buddha she'd bought in Tibet.
Jay gave her the bike.
We helped them dig it out of the rack. It needs a saddle, a chain,
and probably some other work so they'll be back.
Seeing a forsaken bicycle reunited with the person who loved it first
gladdened my spirit. I felt blessed to be a witness.
--
zk
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Date: 06 Nov 2007 19:59:08
From: Jym Dyer
Subject: Re: Karma Cycle
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> Seeing a forsaken bicycle reunited with the person who loved it first
> gladdened my spirit. I felt blessed to be a witness.
=v= This is awesome. Did you notice whether this one was there?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jym/316984828/
<_Jym_ >
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Date: 05 Nov 2007 11:40:04
From: Brian Huntley
Subject: Re: Karma Cycle
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On Nov 5, 12:41 am, Zoot Katz <zootk...@operamail.com > wrote:
> Seeing a forsaken bicycle reunited with the person who loved it first
> gladdened my spirit. I felt blessed to be a witness.
Great story - now we need the back-story.
<fiction >
After the junkie stole her bike 8 years ago, he sold it for $10, got
high, and fell off the Lion's Gate Bridge. He landed on a passing wood
products ship headed for the Philippines and was never seen again. The
bike's buyer was a weasle with a "$3 a day for a month" used bike
shop, who sold it to a young woman who liked the Buddha sticker.
The bike enabled her to get to her classes at UBC, where she worked
hard and graduated at the top her class. She then clerked for a
reputable law firm, passed the bar, and donated hundreds of hours of
pro bono work to bicycle related causes. Last year, she decided to get
a new bike (a Rivendell) and donated the old one to Our Community
Bikes!
</fiction >
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Date: 06 Nov 2007 00:13:13
From: Zoot Katz
Subject: Re: Karma Cycle
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On Mon, 05 Nov 2007 11:40:04 -0800, Brian Huntley
<brian_huntley@hotmail.com > remote viewed:
>The bike enabled her to get to her classes at UBC, where she worked
>hard and graduated at the top her class. She then clerked for a
>reputable law firm, passed the bar, and donated hundreds of hours of
>pro bono work to bicycle related causes. Last year, she decided to get
>a new bike (a Rivendell) and donated the old one to Our Community
>Bikes!
Whoa. I know a car-free, bike advocate lawyer who was branded
"radical" because she rode her bicycle to UBC law school.
She's also been a member of the board at OCB! and has had a string of
bad luck with locked bicycles stolen or destroyed in the attempt.
I think she just bought a new DaVinci. I'll have to ask her about
the Rivendell.
--
zk
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Date: 05 Nov 2007 19:27:45
From: Mike Kruger
Subject: Re: Karma Cycle
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Brian Huntley wrote:
> On Nov 5, 12:41 am, Zoot Katz <zootk...@operamail.com> wrote:
>
>> Seeing a forsaken bicycle reunited with the person who loved it first
>> gladdened my spirit. I felt blessed to be a witness.
>
> Great story - now we need the back-story.
>
> <fiction>
>
> After the junkie stole her bike 8 years ago, he sold it for $10, got
> high, and fell off the Lion's Gate Bridge. He landed on a passing wood
> products ship headed for the Philippines and was never seen again. The
> bike's buyer was a weasle with a "$3 a day for a month" used bike
> shop, who sold it to a young woman who liked the Buddha sticker.
>
> The bike enabled her to get to her classes at UBC, where she worked
> hard and graduated at the top her class. She then clerked for a
> reputable law firm, passed the bar, and donated hundreds of hours of
> pro bono work to bicycle related causes. Last year, she decided to get
> a new bike (a Rivendell) and donated the old one to Our Community
> Bikes!
>
> </fiction>
This could be a good game. Here's my backstory:
<fiction >
She left it unlocked when she went into a convenience store "just for a
minute".
The bike was stolen by a teen as a crime of opportunity -- he thought the
Buddha decal was cool, and the woman was nice looking. He had no choice of
possessing her, but could possess her bike.
He told his parents he bought it for $10, but they didn't believe him. They
didn't want to turn him in, either, and so the bike was hidden in the
basement while they figured out what to do. They never did figure out what
to do; it stayed 8 years in their basement until they moved to Florida. What
didn't sell at the moving sale their son disposed of. Feeling sheepishly
guilty about this event from his growing up, he donated it to Our Community
Bikes.
</fiction >
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Date: 06 Nov 2007 00:13:18
From: Zoot Katz
Subject: Re: Karma Cycle
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On Mon, 5 Nov 2007 19:27:45 -0600, "Mike Kruger"
<MikeKr@mouse-potato.com > wrote, in part:
>the bike was hidden in the
>basement while they figured out what to do. They never did figure out what
>to do; it stayed 8 years in their basement until they moved to Florida.
hmmm. it did look like basement grime. The chain was rusted but the
wheels were still good.
It's more reassuring to think it had been out of circulation for a
long time rather than feeding the sleazy underground economy of crack
heads, junkies and bike thieves.
--
zk
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Date: 05 Nov 2007 11:13:25
From: nmp
Subject: Re: Karma Cycle
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Zoot Katz wrote:
[snip good story]
> Seeing a forsaken bicycle reunited with the person who loved it first
> gladdened my spirit. I felt blessed to be a witness.
To be a bit more down-to-earth (some might say cynical) about this:
hopefully the lady will get a good lock this time.
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